I get this question every once in a while, from avid Sangria drinkers. What is the best wine for Sangria? This is sort of like asking what the best cheese is for eating, or what the best flavor of ice cream is for kids.

The thing is that every one of us has different taste buds. A cabernet that I adore for being light and fruity, you might hate for being dry and dusty. We really do taste things differently. If someone is raised on soda and sweets they might find a typical chardonnay to be way too dry. Another person who was raised on drinking water and eating melba toast might find that exact same chardonnay to be way too sweet and buttery.

Sangria is a very wide open punch style that can involve red wines, white wines, sparkling wines. Sangria can be made with liqueurs of every shape and style - rums, vodkas, brandies, melon flavors, strawberry flavors. You can make sangria with strawberries. Sangria with peaches. Sangria with plums. You can see how wildly the flavors can vary!

So in terms of wines, it then makes sense that the wines that would match up - even in a general sense - would also vary wildly. If you made a white wine sangria with peaches and ginger ale, you might want a light riesling along with asti spumanti. If you made a heavy red wine sangria with strawberries, black cherries, raspberries and Grand Marnier you might go with a rich cabernet.

Even with a given fruit combination there is no absolute "must have" wine. You could do peaches and ginger ale and go with prosecco and ice wine for a super sweet, confectioner's sugar style sangria. You could do peaches and ginger ale with chardonnay and have a more buttery, rich experience. All are equally valid and equally delicous for most people. I'm sure you could also find people who would hate these as being "too sweet"! That's the way taste buds are.

The fun of sangria is that there are so many options. You go with what you love. If you personally love strawberries, start there. Get a container of strawberries, some friends, and three or four of your favorite red wines. Now sit around for an afternoon sampling wines and strawberries. Which do you love together? Which don't work out well? Once you know what your taste buds find pleasing, you can play with sangria mixes, adding in liqueurs and sodas until the flavor combination is just right!

Note: I created these sangria recipes and have had them online for years. If you find similar sangria recipes elsewhere, it's because someone copied my idea. I do appreciate it when visitors write in to warn me about the plagiarism - but usually there's not much I can do about it! What's really funny is when they copy my design right down to my sangria pitcher. That's a bit much :)